Monday, 3 June 2013

Asteroid 1998QE2 Fly-by - SAA Observatory

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 passed by Earth, at a distance no
closer than about 5.8 million kilometers, or about 15 times the distance
between Earth and the Moon. The asteroid, which was discovered on the
19th August 1998, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln
Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) programme in the US, is thought
to be about 2.7 kilometers long. It is not a threat to Earth however, as
astronomers are certain that the asteroid will pass by rather
uneventfully. Although the asteroid will not be visible with the naked
eye as it will be too faint, it will be visible using a small telecope.